Skarsgard, Sarsgaard, Johnson: Karlovy Vary’s tongue-twisting, star-studded honorees

The 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), scheduled for July 4-12 in the west Bohemian spa town, will honor a distinguished lineup of actors for their outstanding contributions to cinema while also commemorating the festival’s late longtime president, Jiri Bartoska.

Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard, 74, a Golden Globe winner known for his diverse roles in Hollywood and European cinema, will receive the Crystal Globe award for his outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema.

Skarsgard, who appeared in Czech director Vaclav Marhoul’s 2019 film The Painted Bird, will also present Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi), this year’s Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix winner and a serious Oscar contender.

Joining Skarsgard among this year’s honorees are Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps, American actress Dakota Johnson, and American actor Peter Sarsgaard, who will all receive the festival president’s award.

Krieps, 41, noted for her acclaimed roles in Phantom Thread and Corsage, will be recognized at the festival’s opening ceremony on July 4. She will present Love Me Tender by Constance Debre, a film from this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard section, in which she plays a former lawyer fighting for custody of her son.

Johnson, 35, best known for the Fifty Shades trilogy, will present two films she co-produced—Splitsville, a romantic comedy, and Materialists, a comedy exploring a toxic love triangle. She is set to receive her award before the gala screening of Materialists at the Thermal Grand Hall on July 6.

Sarsgaard, 54, who won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at last year’s Venice Film Festival for Memory, will be honored alongside a screening of Shattered Glass. His recent work includes the Golden Globe-nominated film Munich (2022), and he is expected to appear later this year in The Bride, directed by his wife Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Michael Douglas will present a newly restored One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at Karlovy Vary IFF to mark the film’s 50th anniversary. He’ll be joined by producer Paul Zaentz and the family of director Miloš Forman, commemorating the Oscar-winning film and its Czech-born creator.

In addition to the awards, the festival will pay tribute to its late president, Jiří Bartoška, who passed away in May at the age of 78 after serving as festival president since 1994.

The opening film will be an intimate interview with Bartoška titled Musime to zaramovat! (We must frame this!), directed by Jakub Jurásek. The film will be available online on the festival’s streaming platform, kviff.tv, and screened at the Thermal Hotel Congress Hall on July 7 and 11.

Festival visitors will also have the opportunity to view the exhibition Jiří Bartoška – KVIFF President, featuring 60 black-and-white photographs highlighting major festival moments and portraits of Bartoška displayed outdoors between the Thermal and Pupp hotels.

The position of festival president will remain vacant in memoriam to Bartoška with festival director Krystof Mucha assuming full leadership of the event.

The festival’s new trailer, featuring Czech actor Bolek Polívka—the 2022 recipient of the President’s Award—will premiere at the opening ceremony.